


Dream Vision

by RyuichiSakuma



Series: Somebody to Love [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Comedy, Explosions, Fluff, M/M, Made For Each Other, Pre-Time Skip, Romance, Swearing, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-05-23 22:23:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6132013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuichiSakuma/pseuds/RyuichiSakuma
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Roronoa Zoro has regained his color vision after meeting his soulmate.</p><p>He now has a choice to make: choose to walk away from the future that will change the fate of the world or choose to stay and see what will happen next.</p><p>Continuation to 'Dog Vision.' ->    http://archiveofourown.org/works/4816058<br/><i>It IS necessary to have read it in order to read this.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Life-changing Decisions

**Author's Note:**

> *pointless rambling* Feel free to skip this shit if you want. 
> 
> It seems that the departure of my (hopefully former) Writer's Block has left me with the inability to simply write a PWP without surrounding it with a full-length story. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. 
> 
> Since Leap Day is a once-every-four-years occurrence, I decided to publish the first chapter on this unusual day! 
> 
> /end pointless rambling
> 
> Once again, I thank Eiri for betaing and for helping me through a pivotal scene that I would have otherwise messed up completely. Love ya!

“I still smell like work,” Zoro grouched, frowning as he followed the man with the black eyes to the door of the shop. The next shift had shown up, allowing Roronoa Zoro to clock out.

 

“It's okay, you smell like food. I love food!” the stranger replied, shifting the battered straw hat to look up at the taller man before he turned to walk out the door.

 

Zoro could attest to that. Not only did the raven-haired stranger eat the sandwich the business woman had rejected (once Zoro had finished making it, of course,) he had bought and eaten three huge meat-lovers specials while he waited for Zoro to end his shift.

 

 _'_ _Where did th_ _is_ _skinny little man put it all?_ _'_ the green-haired man wondered to himself.

 

The warm weather brought out people determined to enjoy the first nice spring day. Brightly colored clothes only served to blind Zoro, who was still adjusting to the return of his color vision.

 

Noticing his difficulty, the stranger had taken his wrist into a surprisingly strong grip as they wove in and out of the crowd. The strange man's touch sent electricity zinging up Zoro's arm.

 

Unable to speak, Zoro let himself be lead.

 

“W...where are we heading?” the mossy-haired man finally got up the nerve to ask, cursing at himself mentally when his voice cracked.

 

“Out for coffee, remember? I don't drink it, but I figured that you might. And they serve food there too!” the raven-haired man chirped, grinning.

 

After two blocks, the man turned onto a side street away from most of the evening crowd. Walking past an empty store and a dry cleaners, he stopped and looked up. Zoro stopped as well, blinking a few times to look up at the battered sign before he peered into the huge picture window. Plants of all kind sat in decorative pots, a couple of the pots large enough to look as if they needed two people to move them.

 

“Thousand Sunny?” he read out loud. “This is a coffee shop? I thought it was a flower shop of some kind. I pass it nearly every day going to and from work.”

 

“My friend runs it. Robin says they make the best coffee in the city! She would know!” the man explained, letting go of Zoro's wrist.

 

Zoro felt like a drowning man cut free from a lifeline.

 

Taking a deep breath, Zoro pushed open the door and walked inside, the other man bouncing in after him.

 

Rock music played quietly in the background as Zoro looked around. The large room was paneled in rich dark wood that shone with years of polishing oils being rubbed in to it. The floor, while worn, shone with the same care. Comfortable chairs were scattered around circular wooden tables where many customers of all types sat and chatted or worked on laptops and tablets. Zoro could even see a few beanbag chairs upon which people lounged or lay across sipping their drinks. In one corner a few guys sat in chairs intently playing a video game on one of three large TVs. Along the far wall sat booths, some containing couples and one with a rather boisterous group all leaning over looking at a tablet. The smell of coffee and tea hung thick in the air as the black-eyed man made his way through the crowd of customers with Zoro following a few steps behind.

 

“Hiya Luffy, your usual, comin' up!” a huge man with a upswept blue coif called out from behind the serving counter. Despite his size, he moved with ease around the other three barista working on various drinks.

 

“Any idea of what you want? I'm payin'!” the man...no, _Luffy_ asked as he waited for blue-hair to make his drink.

 

Zoro looked up at the hand-written chalkboard that hung on the back wall behind the counter and shrugged.

 

“Regular coffee, black, no sugar is fine,” he said, suddenly wondering why he was even there. Oh yeah, he had finally met his soulmate and they were out on their first date.

 

If so, why did he suddenly feel like running out the door?

 

Frowning, he watched as blue-hair added colored sprinkles 'S _prinkles?_ _'_ to the whipped cream that sat on top of the concoction and placed a cherry on top. ' _A cherry too? What is this guy? Five?_ _'_

 

“C'mon, lets grab a booth,” Luffy said, picking the cherry up by the stem and dropping the entire thing into his mouth while he lead the way. Still feeling as if he should run, Zoro could do nothing but follow as Luffy gulped his drink.

 

The pair slid into one of the high-backed booths at the back of the room close to the restrooms. Placing his straw hat on the table, Luffy grinned as he pulled out a napkin from the holder, then took the cherry stem out of his mouth and placed it on the napkin.

 

The stem was tied in a perfect, neat little bow.

 

Zoro could only stare at it, his mouth open.

 

He didn't pay much attention when a beautiful black-haired server with light tan skin brought over his drink.

 

“Do you want anything else Luffy-san? Or you sir?” she asked politely, drawing Zoro's gaze from the stem to her. Zoro couldn't help but notice her brilliant blue eyes when she smiled down at him and placed the cup of coffee on the table.

 

“Nope. I ate at Zoro's shop!” Luffy said, his grin nearly blinding as he turned from gulping his drink, a whipped cream mustache on his upper lip.

 

“That's fine. If you want anything else, let me know,” she replied, placing the tray under her arm before expertly weaving her way between the many tables.

 

Luffy licked off his mustache and grinned at Zoro.

 

“S...so your name is Luffy?” Zoro asked, once again mentally cursing when his voice cracked a second time.

 

“Yup! Monkey D. Luffy! I know your name's Zoro, it's on your nametag,” Luffy said, pointing.

 

“Roronoa Zoro, actually,” he said, blushing slightly as he unpinned his nametag and stuck it into the pocket of his workshirt. To hide his nervousness, the green-haired man took a sip of hot coffee and swallowed while Luffy drained his drink and waited for him to continue.

 

“Are...are you my...” Zoro heard himself say.

 

“Yup!” Luffy answered with no hesitation.

 

Zoro quickly took another sip of his coffee to wet his suddenly dry throat.

 

“Then did everything...turn gray for you?” he managed to croak out, unconsciously rubbing at his short green hair.

 

“Nope!” Luffy stated. “I'm only seventeen.”

 

“Seven... _seventeen?_ ” Zoro said. “But how did you know that I was your _soulmate?_ ”

 

Luffy shrugged. “I just knew. Just like I did with the others.”

 

“You just _knew?_ _Others?_ ” Zoro cried as he slammed his hands on the table and stood. Luffy stared up at him, his expression blank. The other customers and even the four barista turned to watch.

 

“I lost my color vision for over a year! I got caught in the rain, I wore mismatched clothes to my classes and I nearly gave a customer a sandwich that could have put her in the hospital because I couldn't tell green peppers from red! And now I find out that you might not even be my soulmate?”

 

Zoro reached into his back pants pocket and pulled out his wallet. Throwing a ten dollar bill on the table, he shoved his wallet back into his pocket and moved out from the booth. Seeing that the entire establishment had watched their exchange, he shoved his hands into his pants pockets and turned back to Luffy

 

“This soulmate shit is just that... _shit!_ ” he growled before turning to walk towards the door.

 

“Wait, Zoro!” Luffy cried out, almost knocking over the nearly full cup of coffee as he left the booth.

 

“Nami says I have incense! That I know 'cause of my emotions or something like that!”

 

Zoro stopped dead in his tracks.

 

Nami was the neighbor that lived two doors down that told him if his clothes matched. For a nominal fee each time.

 

“You...know her?” Zoro asked, cautiously walking back to the booth and sitting down.

 

The customers and the staff pretended to go back to whatever they had been doing, but in truth most began to discuss the newly soulmated pair in the back booth.

 

“Sure I do! She works here!” Luffy said, tilting his head and smiling as he sat back down.

 

Zoro put his hand over his face and bowed his head.

 

“She knew. About us, didn't she?” he asked in a low voice.

 

“I told her about you the first time I saw you in person. That I knew you were my soulmate. She trusts my incense.” Luffy explained in a serious tone.

 

Zoro raised his head and looked at Luffy. The man...no teen...looked back, his black eyes seemingly bottomless. There was no hint of the grin he heard running through Luffy's voice the entire time they had been together.

 

“Incense.... I think you mean _instincts_ ,” Zoro corrected as he crossed his arms thoughtfully and sat back in his seat.

 

“Yeah, instincts,” Luffy repeated as he leaned closer to Zoro, his expression solemn.

 

“Look Zoro. I know all about how when you turn eighteen your soulmate can't see any color but whatever color their eyes are. But that's not how it worked for me. I saw all of my soulmates in my dreams. I saw _you_ in my dreams the most. From when I was a kid I knew _you_ were the one I was supposed to be partnered with. I knew your face and I looked for it everywhere. When I saw you in the sandwich shop, I was so excited!”

 

“He's right, Roronoa-san. Sometimes multiple soulmates come to someone in the form of dreams. It is exceedingly rare, usually only a few times in a generation. Unfortunately, the last few times it happened, the world ended up with people like the former dictator Gekko Moriah.

 

Zoro hadn't even heard the black-haired server come over.

 

“However, Luffy-san told us all beforehand that you will be the one that he will fall in love with. That's fine with us.”

 

Zoro looked up at the server and then back at the raven-haired teen who nodded like a bobblehead toy.

 

It was too much to digest all at once.

 

He reached for his ice-cold coffee, gulping it down before standing.

 

“I...I'll be right back. I have to use the restroom,” he told the pair.

 

Zoro made his way to the restroom a few booths away from where they were sitting and entered, grateful that he was the only one using it at the moment. Turning on the cold water, he held his hands underneath the stream. Placing them together, he let them fill before putting his face into his cupped hands.

 

 _'_ _What have I gotten myself into?'_ he asked himself.

 

 _'_ _This isn't how it's supposed to go! We're supposed to meet, get to know each other, fall in love and live relatively happily every after...right?'_

 

Raising his head, he stared at his reflection in the mirror while water dripped off of his chin.

 

Gray eyes in a tanned, ruggedly handsome Japanese face gazed back at him. Three long gold earrings in his left ear shone under the florescent lighting. Brilliant green hair cut in a short style, currently messy from running his fingers through it.

 

He realized that not only was he terrified, he was already falling for the grinning teen.

 

After all, when Luffy had asked him to stay, he had.

 

Running one hand down his face, Zoro sighed. Moving over to the hand dryer, he surveyed the room he was in. Opposite of the door he had entered was a large window. Walking over, he examined it. It was cracked open to let in fresh air. He could easily open it wider, shimmy out, jump the few feet down to the ground below and out of the alley the window faced.

 

He could simply leave.

 

He could go on with his life and forget that he had met his soulmate.

 

But...Luffy had _dreamed_ about him. Had seen him in his dreams since he was a child.

 

Zoro felt his heart pound as he thought about the teen's blindingly bright grin and felt his own mouth unconsciously turn up into a smile.

 

He knew right then and there that he couldn't just leave.

 

He pushed the button that turned on the hand dryer and dried his hands, making sure to also use it to dry his face. Running a hand through the short green spikes on his head, he took a deep breath and left the restroom.

 

“These are manly tears of _sympathy_!” he heard bellowed across the cafe. Turning, he saw the blue-haired barista with an arm thrown over his eyes sobbing while being consoled by both the short brown-haired kid and the long-nosed barista as the tall one looked on helplessly.

 

Most of the customers ignored the commotion behind the service counter.

 

Apparently, they were used to the theatrics.

 

“He ducked out the windooooooow! Zoro's not coming BAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!” he heard Luffy yowl. Luffy's head lay on the table while the black-haired server stood by the booth patting him on the head. When the green-haired man approached the booth, he noticed a huge puddle on the floor spilling from the tabletop, the source being the younger man's tears.

 

The black-haired server tapped Luffy on the shoulder and pointed. Instantly his tears were gone, replaced with the widest grin yet. Rocketing towards him, Zoro was pushed backwards and his breath knocked from his lungs as Luffy glomped him.

 

“You came BAAAACCCCCCKKKKK!” the teen wailed as happy tears wet Zoro's work shirt.

 

“Yeah,” Zoro replied, grimacing at the wetness.

 

The black-haired server quickly and efficiently wiped down the table with a towel, then tossed it onto the puddle on the floor before walking away again.

 

Luffy rubbed his nose with a balled-up napkin he was holding then tossed it onto the table and smiled.

 

“I'm glad you came back,” he said softly.

 

Zoro felt his cheeks heat up as he returned the smile.

 

Luffy retook his seat as the server came over to refill Zoro's cup before leaving as swiftly as she had come. Zoro sat down and picked up the cup, staring into its dark depths while he let his thoughts coalesce.

 

“So...” he began, pausing as he debated on how to best ask his next question. “You have more than one soulmate? How is that possible?” he asked, gazing up at the teen.

 

“Robin 's history books says that it means that we're gonna do great things together,” Luffy quoted, tilting his head to one side as he gazed at Zoro. “But she also said that we could cause another terrible world event to happen too. She said that it was all up to whichever way I choose to go when the time comes.”

 

“Why _you_ Luffy? Because of the dreams?” Zoro asked. Luffy nodded.

 

“Then what are your goals? What are we supposed to do?”

 

“Idunno,” Luffy said, placing his hands behind his head. “I haven't had that dream yet.”

 

“Oh,” was all that Zoro could say. He picked up his coffee and gulped down half, ignoring the burn in his throat.

 

“So..how many other soulmates do you have? Not including me, of course,” Zoro croaked out while Luffy placed his hat upon his head.

 

“Well...there's Robin. She's the one that's been pouring you your coffee,” Luffy said, turning to wave at the server, who turned from the blue-haired barista she had been talking to to smile at the teen before turning back to blue-hair. Zoro turned to look at her.

 

“Franky too. He's the big guy Robin's talking to.”

 

Zoro continued to look in their direction. He watched as Franky wiped his eyes and smiled at Robin, blushing.

 

“Nami you know. She moved two doors down from your dorm room to keep an eye on you for me...and to help you with your clothes. She said you dressed really badly until she did.”

 

“Nami charges me for her advice,” Zoro pointed out, frowning.

 

“Of course she does Zoro. She goes to university!” Luffy said, blinking.

 

If she was one of Luffy's friends, shouldn't she have given him the advice for _free_?

 

“But she works here too. You said so!” Zoro reiterated. He did _not_ pout just then.

 

Luffy just stared at him. “I don't know what you mean,” he muttered.

 

Zoro sighed. “Never mind. Are we the only ones?”

 

Luffy shook his head and pointed to the counter. “Usopp's the barista with the long nose, Brook is the tall guy with the afro, and Chopper's the short kid with light brown hair. Sanji's the cook, but right now he's in class. He's the chef and makes the best steak and meatballs and hamburgers!” Luffy's mouth began to water at the thought of food.

 

“What do you do?” Zoro asked. “All of your soulmates work here, right”

 

“Oh, Robin doesn't work here. She helps out whenever she wants. I just let her.”

 

Zoro blinked at that answer. “So that means...”

 

“I _own_ the Thousand Sunny!” Luffy yelled, throwing his fists into the air as he grinned.

 

The entire cafe erupted into cheers and applause. If the size of the current crowd was any kind of evidence, it was obvious that the Thousand Sunny was _very_ successful.

 

Zoro sat, stunned.

 

“How...how did a kid like you end up owning a place like this?” he asked, looking around as the ovation died down.

 

“My grandfather gave it to me. He said my folks would have wanted me to have it,” Luffy told him, picking up a sugar packet, opening it, then dumping it into his mouth.

 

“So you're an orphan?” Zoro asked, not reacting to Luffy's action.

 

“Oh no, my dad's just really busy. He does secret stuff that Gramps won't tell me.” Luffy explained, munching around the sugar.

 

“And your Mom?” Zoro asked.

 

Luffy swallowed what was in his mouth, his hat falling forward to cover his eyes.

 

“She died when I was a little kid.” he said in a soft voice.

 

“Oh. I'm sorry Luffy. I shouldn't have asked.” the green haired man murmured, running his hand through his hair again.

 

Pushing his hat back, Luffy shrugged. “It's okay. You would have found out anyway.” He smiled slightly, then took off his hat and leaned forward on the table. “After all, I want you to know everything about me, and I want to find out all about you,” the teen declared with finality. “So tell me,” he said, retaking his seat.

 

Zoro shrugged. “There's not much to tell. I go to Red Line University, my adopted father runs a dojo where I sometimes help teach kendo and when I don't have University or kendo class, I work at the sandwich shop.”

 

“I'm glad you survived,” Luffy said, his eyes suddenly solemn.

 

“I... _what?_ ” Zoro cried out.

 

_'...this can't be happening!'_

 

“I'm sorry that you lost your sister, Zoro. She _was_ amazing, wasn't she?” Luffy asked. He reached across the table to the hand on the coffee cup but stopped just shy of touching. The green-haired man could feel the heat from the younger man's skin, his own hand not withdrawing from the near-contact.

 

“You...dreamed about that too?” Zoro whispered hoarsely, sliding back in his seat. Sitting back, Luffy nodded slowly, his black eyes drawn to the top of the scar barely visible past Zoro's partially unbuttoned work shirt.

 

Zoro's memory of the car accident that killed his parents and older sister Kuina was one that, even more than ten years later, still gave him nightmares. He had survived, but the jagged scar that made its way from his left shoulder to his right hip and many of the organs beneath it had to be pieced back together by an entire team of surgeons. The damaged surface nerves still made the scar jangle badly whenever he washed it in the shower but he had learned to ignore it for the most part.

 

“I...can't believe this is happening to me,” Zoro muttered, bringing his hand up to run through his hair. “I'm not sure if this is a dream or a nightmare!”

 

“I would think a bit of both, Roronoa-san,” Robin replied from behind the green haired man as she moved to top off Zoro's coffee cup yet again.

 

Zoro wondered if any of her ancestors had been trained in the ninja arts. That made three times he didn't hear her coming.

 

“Most of us were as shocked just like you are the first time we met Luffy. We've had plenty of time to adjust to everything he knew about each of us through his dreams.”

 

“However, we had the advantage of knowing well beforehand that you were coming. You didn't know about any of us until tonight. I don't blame you for your reactions, but it's inevitable that you will join us, wouldn't you say? After all, they say rejecting your soulmate after meeting usually means one has an unfulfilled love life.” Robin pointed out, smiling sweetly at Zoro.

 

He didn't think her smile was as sweet as she tried to make it.

 

Zoro crossed his arms and looked back and forth from Luffy, to Robin and back to Luffy. The volunteer server had a point.

 

He hated to admit that he was curious as to where this relationship... _any_ _kind_ of relationship with Luffy would go. The teen was so open and honest, it was refreshing in a world where people usually hid behind masks.

 

Besides, he had fallen for Luffy during their conversation.

 

Fallen _hard._

 

Without a parachute.

 

Just as Zoro opened his mouth to answer, the cafe door slammed open. He blinked as what seemed to be a man's black-clad dress shoe disappeared outside.

 

“DAMMIT Sanji, I told you to not kick the door open! Any damages you caused is coming out of your pay!”

 

Zoro recognized that voice.

 

It was Nami.

 

“That is perfectly fine, Nami-swan. I don't need money, I can exist by simply gazing at your gorgeous visage!” a man's voice purred. The redheaded beauty walked into the coffee shop, followed by a blond man wearing cook's whites over black dress pants who was more than likely Sanji. He was loaded down with his arms full of thick books, a messenger bag slung over one shoulder and wearing a full backpack.

 

Robin appeared next to the lovely redhead and quickly led her over to the side of the serving counter, leaving Sanji to deal with the books. The long-nosed man, whose name Zoro remembered was Usopp, came from around the counter to help place the books into stacks on an empty table. The blond dropped the messenger bag and backpack in one chair and then practically fell into the other.

 

Zoro couldn't hear what either Robin or Usopp said, but he frowned when both Nami and Sanji turned to look at him. Turning to look at Luffy, the teen grinned and waved at the pair and then leaned forward on the table.

 

“Sanji's gonna start cooking now! His food is the best! You're gonna stay and eat with us, right?” Luffy's expression was so innocent and hopeful that Zoro tightened his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palms.

 

He really, _really_ wanted to kiss Luffy right now.

 

Fuck those that don't like PDA.

 

Instead, he nodded once, causing Luffy to hold up his hand towards the service counter. Sanji nodded as he continued to slouch in the chair.

 

“What do you want Zoro? Sanji can make anything you want!” Luffy chirped.

 

“Anything he makes will be fine. Just...no sweets. I'm not big on them,” Zoro answered.

 

“Okay, I'll be right back!” Luffy picked up the straw hat and put it on before hurrying towards where the blond was sitting.

 

 _'What have I gotten myself into?'_ Zoro thought for the second time as he stared at the tabletop, not seeing it. His eyes drifted over to the cherry stem bow and he smiled slightly.

 

He knew he was going to stay with the raven-haired teen, despite what may happen in the future.

 

Soon Luffy returned holding drinks, followed by the blond cook carrying a tray piled high with food.

 

“Sanji wouldn't let me carry the tray,” Luffy muttered, pouting as he put the drinks on the table and slid back into his seat.

 

“Shithead, if I _had,_ you would've eaten everything on it before you made it to the table!” the blond grouched, an unlit cigarette hanging from his mouth.

 

Zoro scrutinized the blond while he placed the food on the table. Sanji's short blond hair was fashionably cut to about mid-ear length, with longer bangs combed over to one side, hiding one of his blue eyes. He had a slightly upturned nose and pale skin. The man would have been _really_ good looking...if Zoro would have been into blonds.

 

But when it came to the blond's eyebrow, Zoro raised one of his own.

 

The man's darker blond eyebrow curled on his forehead into not one but _two_ concentric circles.

 

Who does that?

 

“Is that natural?” Zoro asked, pointing at Sanji's eyebrow.

 

“Is what natural? The chicken _is_ free-range, if that's what you mean,” Sanji replied, placing it in front of a drooling Luffy.

 

“No, I mean the eyebrow. Is it naturally curled like that or some kind of fashion statement?” the green-haired man asked, one of his own eyebrows still raised.

 

“Why the _fuck_ would I deliberately grow my eyebrow like this? So that dumbassed grass-headed, bottle-dyed fucktards like you could ask me stupid _fucking_ questions?” Sanji yelled, glaring at Zoro with his one eye.

 

“Sanji, put four dollars in the swear jar please,” Nami shouted over the murmur of customers' voices, causing many of the regulars to laugh.

 

Placing the last of the food dishes on the table, Sanji glared once more at Zoro, the cigarette butt now crushed between his teeth as he said, “This isn't over, moss for brains!” Carrying the tray expertly over his head, he danced towards the redhead, his eyes sparkling. She pointed at the huge, nearly full money jar that sat on a special shelf on the back wall behind the counter. Sanji reached into his pocket to draw out his wallet, dejectedly adding in the requested amount through its slotted lid.

 

“Nami promised that we'd do something cool with the money once it's full!” Luffy said with a mouthful of chicken. Zoro noticed that three of the plates were already empty.

 

“My haircolor is natural,” Zoro grumbled as he picked up his hamburger and bit into it. It was cooked to perfection, the lettuce and tomato crisp and cool with just the right amount of condiments. The juices that flowed to the back of his throat tasted so good that he almost wanted a full glass of it to wash his meal down with.

 

Not that he'd tell that blond bastard.

 

“Good, ne?” Luffy asked, shoving the last of the chicken into his mouth with one hand and reaching for another full plate with the other.

 

“It's okay,” Zoro replied, swallowing and taking another bite.

 

Luffy and Zoro continued to eat, the smaller teen finishing his food early then trying to distract him so that he could sneak french fries off of Zoro's plate.

 

It was so charming that Zoro let him.

 

Despite Luffy having devouring six full plates of food.

 

Zoro decided that Monkey D. Luffy was hollow inside.

 

“So, are you going to join my crew?” Luffy asked as he chewed around the last french fry.

 

Zoro swallowed the final bite of his hamburger and picked up his coffee. Robin had stopped by a few times while the pair was eating and kept it topped off.

 

He sat back in his seat and gazed thoughtfully at the younger man.

 

“If I do, what are we expected to be like?” Zoro asked. Luffy stared at him as he sipped his coffee.

 

“We would be lovers, of course...” the teen began.

 

Zoro inhaled some of his coffee.

 

“Zoro! Are you all right?” Luffy cried, leaning forward to pat the coughing man on the back.

 

Trying to catch his breath, Zoro stared at Luffy, not believing how blunt the raven-haired man was.

 

“Is...is that all?” Zoro managed to choke out before getting his lungs to function properly again. “I would just be your fucktoy?”

 

“No, or course not! We'd date and fall in love and eventually end up marrying too, I guess,” Luffy said thoughtfully. “But first we have to do t _he_ _m_ _ystery_ _t_ _hing_.”

 

“ _The mystery thing?_ ” Zoro asked.

 

“Whatever it is I'm supposed to do. And you're supposed to be my right-hand man,” Luffy explained, bringing up one leg onto the bench and draping an arm over the knee.

 

“Oh,” was all that Zoro could think of to say.

 

“So, you're joining my crew, right?” Luffy asked again.

 

Zoro looked at Luffy, really _looked_ at him.

 

Fortunately for him, Luffy actually sat still for the examination.

 

A battered straw hat banded with a red ribbon sat on top of messy, short black hair. A very cute, still boyish face with a scar under the left eye that Zoro just now had a chance to notice. A well-worn, loose red t-shirt with the sleeves cut off hiding a thin body and what looked like baggy homemade jorts that nearly came down to his knees. Thin limbs that seemed to stretch when he reached for his french fries.

 

And huge black eyes that seemed to nail him to the spot whenever they focused on his.

 

Eyes that seemed to hold the universe.

 

Eyes that he kept getting lost in.

 

Zoro bobbed his head once in affirmation, smiling slightly as he accepted the invitation, especially when Luffy somehow leapt over the table and threw his arms around his neck to peck him on the cheek. The Sunny cafe erupted into deafening cheers, whistles and applause.

 

Zoro didn't hear any of the accolades.

 

All he noticed was that the skinny, grinning teen's arms were currently draped around his neck.

 

And the heat that emanated from the peck on the cheek.

 

“All those with winning tickets, please bring them to the front to collect!”

 

Nami's shout brought Zoro out of the daze he was in as fully one third of the Sunny's customers got up from their respective seats and headed to the service counter.

 

“You...she... _bet_ that we would end up together?” he asked, turning to stare at Luffy.

 

“No. That was inevitable. She said that you would join us for _the mystery thing_ but Brook said that it was too weird and that you wouldn't. Others heard about Nami's bet and wanted in on it. It was $5 a bet, yay or nay. I didn't bet. I _knew_ you'd join us,” Luffy explained, gazing deep into Zoro's eyes.

 

Somehow, the younger man had ended up in his lap.

 

Zoro could feel himself becoming lost in Luffy's dark eyes. Again.

 

Not that he would mind losing himself in them.

 

Zoro blushed but froze when he realized that what blood wasn't in his face was rapidly heading south.

 

He quickly stood up, surprised when Luffy didn't immediately let go, the younger man instead hanging from his neck like a human-shaped necklace. Pouting, he finally let go of Zoro.

 

“I...I need to use...” Zoro began, trying to surreptitiously place one hand in front of his groin while Luffy smiled and nodded.

 

“Sanji says you only “pay rent” on coffee,” Luffy chirped. “I don't know what that means.”

 

As he hurried towards the restroom a second time, Zoro knew it meant that the coffee you drink makes you have to urinate soon afterwards.

 

Not that he could bear to explain something like that to Luffy.

 

Yet.

 

This time, he wasn't alone in the restroom. The long nosed barista, was turning on the faucet to wash his hands as Zoro headed into a stall. His face was still brilliant red as he tried to will away his erection, hoping that the curly-haired man hadn't noticed it.

 

“I heard Nami's shout. Congratulations and welcome to the Strawhat Crew!” he heard the barista say from the other side of the stall door.

 

“Thanks uh...”

 

“Usopp.”

 

“Thanks Usopp,” he said, sighing. He thumped his hot forehead against the cool door of the stall.

 

“Sorry for not talking to you face to face but I kinda feel like a leaf in a hurricane right about now.”

 

He mentally groaned as Usopp chuckled.

 

“It's okay," Usopp replied. “Luffy had that effect on all of us at first.”

 

Zoro wasn't sure if he meant making him blush or the erection that was finally fading.

 

“He makes you want to hurry up and do nearly everything he asks, doesn't he?” Usopp continued, absently washing his hands.

 

Oh. That's what he meant.

 

“Yeah,” Zoro said breathily.

 

“You've fallen for him already, haven't you?” Usopp asked gently.

 

“Yeah,” Zoro replied quietly.

 

“We all have. Most of us on the first day we met him as well. But you're the one he's supposed to be with.” Usopp said, a slight tinge of jealousy in his voice.

 

Zoro winced, placing one hand on the stall's door.

 

“Most of us have moved past that already. So it's okay for you to be with him and not be afraid of how we'll react, okay uh...”  
  
“Roronoa Zoro.”

 

“Nice to meet you Roronoa-san.”

 

“Zoro's fine.”

 

“Zoro.”

 

Taking a deep breath, the green-haired man opened the bathroom stall's door.

 

Usopp smiled at him as turned on the hand dryer.

 

“I've seen you around the university before. Usually while visiting Nami. Not too many guys have green hair.”

 

“It's natural,” Zoro said, running his fingers through it nervously.

 

“It's cool! I'd dye mine blue if I could. But between high school, college prep classes and working here, I'd have to find the time,” the long-nosed teen said wistfully.

 

“It's not all it's cracked up to be. That guy, Sanji, thinks it's dyed. Most people do. They don't notice the green eyebrows,” Zoro replied.

 

“Oh wow, even your eyelashes are green! It's kinda obvious if you look close enough. I suppose people don't even notice that do they? Not that I regularly pay attention to a man's eyelashes....” Usopp blushed awkwardly.

 

Zoro stifled a laugh at the other man's embarrassment. He decided that he liked the long-nosed barista.

 

“W...well, anyways,” Usopp said. “Let me introduce you to everyone...once the betting crowd dies down.”

 

“That's okay. I...think I want to talk a bit more to Luffy, if that's cool with you,” Zoro replied.

 

“Oh yeah, sure, of course!” Usopp sputtered. “I'll see you later. I gotta go back to work anyway.”

 

Zoro nodded in understanding as Usopp left the restroom. Standing in the center of the small space, he inhaled deeply, held it for a count of ten, and then released the breath, willing himself to calm.

 

 _'I need to find my center,'_ he admitted to himself. He did ten more cycles of ten breaths, but was already mentally centered buy the third cycle. Upon leaving to rejoin the black-haired teen, he was the calmest he had been all day.

 

Approaching back to the booth, he noticed that Luffy was not alone. Sitting next to him was the tall, thin barista. _'Brook,'_ Zoro remembered.

 

Luffy smiled and then chuckled at something that was said. Both men turned to watch Zoro when he sat down.

 

“Welcome to the Strawhats, Roronoa-san,” Brook said, standing.

 

Zoro nodded.

 

“I would like to stay longer, but my break is over.” Bowing, Brook took his leave.

 

Zoro turned to gaze at Luffy, who sat waiting expectantly. “So. What does all this mean? That I'm to quit my job and come work here?” he asked.

 

“Naw. If you like your job, you should stay there.” Luffy answered, digging in his ear with his pinky.

 

“I hate it.” Zoro told him, frowning.

 

Luffy laughed so hard tears rolled down his cheeks.

 

“Then you could train as a barista. Franky always wanted to update the Sunny's wiring and other stuff, this could be his chance,” Luffy quipped, wiping away his tears.

 

“I'll have to give my old job notice. I don't want to just quit and leave them hanging, yannow?” Zoro mused, frowning.

 

“Okay Zoro, do whatever you need to do. I'll be here, or if you can't find me, ask one of the other Strawhats. They always know how to get ahold of me!” Luffy replied, blushing slightly. “I'll always come to you.”

 

Luffy suddenly looked at everything except Zoro.

 

Zoro stared at him. _'Is he...does he...he_ can't _already be in love with me...can he? He doesn't even know me yet!'_ He picked up his coffee so that he could give his suddenly shaky hands something to do. _'But...I'm already in love with him, and I don't know him either.'_

 

He looked up from his cup to find Luffy staring at him tenderly.

 

 _'This is like a fucking romcom movie. I should go,'_ he thought. He drained his cup and stood.

 

“Are you leaving? Already?” Luffy said, blinking. He stood as well.

 

“Yeah, I should go home and study. I have a test tomorrow,” Zoro admitted, rubbing the back of his head. “Japanese is my original language, but there are things about it that I need to know for the test.”

 

“Oh. Okay Zoro,” Luffy said, smiling shyly.

 

Zoro blushed as he leaned forward, kissed Luffy on the cheek and then hurried towards the door.

 

Daring to look back, he saw Luffy standing in the same spot, one hand on his cheek and wearing a goofy smile.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> jorts – Cutoff jeans shorts, often made when the wearer gets knee holes in their favorite pair of jeans, but they can also be bought pre-made. They're not as cool when bought, though.
> 
> Of course, Luffy made his.
> 
> *~*~*~*~*  
> I would like to thank Niji_Hitomi_Iscariot for writing Chapter 26 of 'Stay With Me.' Reading it gave me the kick in the ass jumpstart to write the Dom!Luffy story that's been brewing at the back of my brain ever since I wrote 'Dog Vision.'
> 
> Seriously, if you haven't read everything that they have written, you are REALLY missing out on some excellent stuff! * fanflails * Go read their stuff...after you've read this, of course! (^_~)
> 
> And yeah, I admit I do the sugar packet thing too. >:P


	2. Open My Eyes and See

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro finds out a bit more about his soulmate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To my beta Eiri, I'm glad you liked this chapter and didn't have to do too much to it. For once I did good! >XD
> 
> And, Happy Birthday Luffy! \\(^_^)/

 

Shoving his hands deep into his pants pockets, Roronoa Zoro left the Thousand Sunny cafe, his mind in turmoil over the evening's events. Lost in thought, he stared unseeing at the sidewalk while he let his feet lead him.

 

_'I busted my ass alone at the sandwich shop while everyone else was off sick.'_

 

_'Met my soulmate.'_

 

_'Went out on a date with said soulmate, only to find out that my soulmate was still a kid...well a teen anyway.'_

 

_'I think I fell for him.'_

 

Zoro felt his heart skip a beat.

 

_'Heard him explain that he and a group of strangers are supposed to either save or destroy the world.'_

 

_'At least, according to Luffy's friend Robin.'_

 

He snorted at the last thought.

 

 _'Robin_ has _to be over-thinking things. How can a group as small as the StrawHats be so important when it comes to world events?'_

 

Not paying attention as to where his feet were taking him, Zoro bumped into someone. Mumbling an apology, he looked up to see black hair and a scowl on the well-dressed, heavy-set man.

 

“Sorry,” he repeated to the man.

 

“You will be,” the man deadpanned, staring at Zoro as if he was memorizing him.

 

Puzzled, Zoro frowned and walked around the man.

 

 _'_ _I can't concentrate enough to study for_ _my_ _damn Japanese test. I_ _really need_ _to think about this whole Luffy thing...or_ _find_ _someone to talk to,_ _'_ he decided.

 

Turning down a nearby street, he made his way through the late-night crowd, hoping that he was heading in the correct direction before stopping at a crosswalk and looking around. Grumbling at the street sign, he realized that he had no idea where he was.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

Kojiro flipped off the lights in the dojo and padded barefoot towards the stairs that lead up to his living quarters. Reaching the top stair, he heard a set of keys in the door. Making his way back downstairs, he opened the door to find his adopted son leaning one-armed against the door frame, soaked in sweat, his shirt clinging to his muscular body.

 

“Zoro? Are you okay?” he asked, his sharp eyes searching the younger man.

 

“I'm fine, Kojiro-san. I somehow ended up in Hiroshi's back yard again and you know his dog hates me and I couldn't find the gate so....”

 

“You had to run around his back yard until you found it again,” the older man said, trying to hide a smile. “Come inside, I'll make you some tea.”

 

Zoro nodded and glared back at the door, where the sound of a barking dog could still be heard. It was well-known by his adopted father that Roronoa Zoro had the ability to find the most _creative_ ways to arrive at wherever it is he needed to go.

 

“What brought you home so late on a school night, Zoro?” Kojiro asked, padding over to the kitchen and flipping on the light.

 

Zoro frowned thoughtfully as he followed the older man. Taking a seat at the small kitchen table, he watched Kojiro putter around. He gathered his thoughts while the older man finished heating the water and poured it into a well-worn teapot. Finishing, he brought the tea over to the table and poured two cups of the steaming liquid before placing the pot on its warmer.

 

“I met my soulmate today,” Zoro said solemnly, his hands wrapped around his cup.

 

Kojiro raised an eyebrow but otherwise said nothing as he sipped his tea.

 

“It's a he.”

 

“Oh?” Kojiro waited a breath before adding, “And does that bother you?”

 

“No,” Zoro admitted stoically, his only visible response being his cheeks reddening slightly.

 

“I see.”

 

“And...he's only seventeen.”

 

Kojiro put down his tea.

 

“Did he say anything about having...dreams?” the older man asked, worriedly.

 

Not expecting such a reaction, Zoro was at a loss for words.

 

“Well...yeah,” he began.

 

“Zoro,” Kojiro said in a low voice, interrupting the green-haired man. “You are to _not_ speak of that boy's dreams to anyone you don't trust with _your very life_ , do you understand? There are...those that would cause harm to him and to _you_ for being involved with him.”

 

“Cause harm? Why?” the younger man asked.

 

“There are....rumors...that those that have dreams about their soulmates are... _can_ be dangerous,” Kojiro replied, leaning slightly over to table.

 

“But nearly everyone at the Thousand Sunny cafe knows about Luffy and his dreams. Even customers,” Zoro replied, paling.

 

“That's not good. Not good at all,” Kojiro replied, sitting back. “It could be dangerous for Luffy.”

 

Zoro steeled his features. “Then I will protect him,” he said with finality. “It could be part of why I appeared in his dreams.”

 

“Not necessarily,” Kojiro warned.

 

“It's not really known _why_ certain individuals have dreams of their soulmates instead of having their color vision affected, nor is it known what it truly means. Most parents tell their children to never tell others of those kind of dreams, even _after_ they find their soulmate. People that these dreams occur to hide it and often do everything they can to avoid their dream visions from coming true.”

 

“But what could happen?” Zoro asked. “Luffy said something about “being able to save the world or destroy it.” Is that for real?”

 

Kojiro sat still for a long while, staring into his cooling tea before raising his head to gaze directly into his son's gray eyes.

 

“It's real.”

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

The next morning, panting and sweating, Zoro arrived at the first class of the day with five minutes to spare. Hurrying to his back row seat, he tossed his backpack full of books into the unoccupied chair next to him.

 

Not one minute the previous night had been spent on studying for his Japanese test.

 

And the test was supposed to begin in less than five minutes.

 

The discussion with Kojiro ended soon after the older man's revelation as to why he hadn't heard of Dream Vision people before.

 

Once the government found out about about them, they tended to disappear.

 

Forever.

 

It was unusual that Luffy hadn't also joined the missing.

 

But then again, Luffy was unusual.

 

Zoro ended up being so rattled by the events of the past 24 hours that he startled when the person passing out the booklets for the test placed one in front of him. Grumbling at himself for not paying attention to what was going on in the classroom, he settled down and readied himself.

 

Glad that Japanese was his original language, the mossy-haired man hoped that he would be able to muddle his way to a halfway decent grade.

 

Settling down, he emptied his mind of soulmates and a certain cute, black-eyed teen, even if only for a few hours.

 

*~*~*~*~*

 

“Zoro, can I convince you to stay if I raise your pay $2 an hour?” his boss pleaded. “You're a good worker and I'll hate to lose you.”

 

The green-haired man shrugged. “I'll have to think about it, Roland. I kinda did promise my new boss I'll start as soon as I could.”

 

Roland glowered as he sat back in his chair. Zoro stood before his desk, the resignation letter still in his hand.

 

“I'm going to leave this here, but if I change my mind, I'll let you know.” he said, placing the paper on the all-too-neat desk. Zoro wondered if his manager ever did any real paperwork, any time he ever saw him in the office, he was fiddling with his phone.

 

“That's fine Roronoa. Let me know either way,” Roland's tone told Zoro that the discussion was over, doubly so when the man once again pulled out his phone.

 

Leaving the office, Zoro sighed.

 

“Yo Z-man, did you really just quit?” asked a now former co-worker with blond hair tied back in a ponytail. Stewart was the only other co-worker that Zoro got along with. The others seemed to either ignore him or look at him jealously whenever women, and sometimes even men would look appreciatively or even flirt with Zoro.

 

“Yeah, Stewart. Boss man didn't take my resignation though. Told me he'd pay me more money and for me to tell the new place that I was staying. I told him I'll think about it.”

 

“Wonder if I can talk him into giving me your raise?” the blond said, smirking.

 

“Go for it. He offered me $2 more an hour. Hope you get it. See you around,” Zoro returned as he waved and went out the door.

 

Sticking his hands into his pockets, the mossy-haired man focused as he walked towards where he thought the Thousand Sunny cafe should be located. He was willing to swear that it only took Luffy fifteen minutes to walk from the sandwich shop to the Thousand Sunny, and that was through a crowd of people.

 

After walking around the neighborhood for about an hour, Zoro recognized a lean, blond man leaning casually against the red brick wall of a building, his hand curled around the cigarette in his mouth as he lit the end with a gold lighter.

 

Hiding his relief behind a neutral expression, Zoro headed towards the doorway the blond was standing next to.

 

“Well, if it isn't the bottle-dyed plantman,” Sanji exclaimed, placing the lighter in his pocket as he exhaled a cloud of smoke.

 

“It's natural,” Zoro growled in response.

 

“Nat...natural? How is that even _possible?_ ” Sanji cried, temporarily forgetting about his cigarette, the white stick hanging from his lower lip.

 

“Idunno,” Zoro answered, opening the door to the cafe.

 

The smell of hot coffee and food hit his nostrils, drawing forth a rumble from his stomach.

 

 _'_ _I need to eat something,_ _'_ he thought to himself, making his way over to the counter, but somehow ending up by a group of tables.

 

“Hey Zoro, what's up?” a voice said by his side.

 

Looking down, he couldn't help but smile at Luffy. The teen's hands were hidden behind his back as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

 

The cute action by the teen made Zoro's heart flutter.

 

“Do you want something to eat? Sanji madefrench fries. I saved you some,” he said, handing the green-haired man a full brown paper lunch bag before wandering away, his hands once again behind his back. Zoro watched the teen walk away, his battered straw hat hanging down his back by a braided red string.

 

“Whoa! Chopper, did you see that? Luffy just handed Zoro _food!_ ” he heard a voice say. Looking towards the voice, he noticed Usopp bent over a table holding a cleaning rag next to a short teen with curly brown hair holding a tray full of dirty dishes, a half-full mug lifted halfway to the tray. Both barristers had frozen in place as they stared at Zoro.

 

“What?” Zoro asked, opening the bag and peering inside. It was full of still-warm long-cut fries, cooked to perfection and lightly salted. Taking out one, he bit into it, the crunch of the fry dancing deliciously onto his tongue.

 

“Luffy never... _never_ shares food. With _anyone,_ ” Chopper whispered reverently, huge brown eyes staring up at Zoro while Usopp nodded.

 

Chewing and then swallowing, Zoro shrugged.  
  
“Hn. Then I guess I'd better eat these before he changes his mind,” he quipped before shoving the rest of the fry into his mouth. Spotting the line at the counter, he somehow headed over and ordered black coffee and a hamburger before looking around, his eyes settling on Luffy. The teen was sitting at the booth near the restrooms where they were previously.

 

Not thinking, he made his way over to where the messy-haired teen was sitting.

 

Without once turning the wrong way.

 

“Hiya Zoro,” Luffy said, smiling shyly. Taking the seat opposite, Zoro nodded at the teen and continued to eat fries while Luffy watched. Robin came over with a mug and saucer and poured a cup of coffee before walking over to where Usopp and Chopper had gone back to cleaning the table.

 

“So...how was your test?” Luffy asked, placing his elbows on the table and his chin in both palms.

 

“I think I did pretty good. Japanese is my first language, after all,” Zoro replied, upending the bag and dumping the last of the fries directly into his mouth. Chewing, he swallowed and nodded at the teen.

 

“Thanks for the fries. I forgot to eat today and I didn't realize how hungry I was until I smelled food.”

 

“It's cool. Sanji makes the best homemade fries!” Luffy said, grinning.

 

Zoro picked up a napkin and wiped off his hands. “I guess I have to fill out paperwork if I'm going to work here,” he said, a slight smile playing on his lips.

 

“You're gonna work here? That's so cool!” Luffy yelped, clapping his hands. A few of the nearby regulars grinned at the outburst.

 

Zoro took a sip of his coffee and nodded. “Yeah, I already turned in my resignation, but my old boss tried to give me a $2 an hour raise. I told a co-worker to ask for it instead.”

 

“Hn...” Luffy said in acknowledgment. He looked around. “Nami's around here somewhere....”

 

“I saw him come in, Luffy,” the beautiful redhead said, coming up behind Luffy. She placed a folder full of papers on the table before sliding in next to the raven-haired teen.

 

“You have to fill out this paperwork before you start, and then your training will begin once you're on the schedule. While you're filling out these forms, I'll be making out the new schedule and adding you to it, so plan on starting Friday afternoon. You'll have a basic training class that teaches you some of the easiest stuff first, and then you'll watch the others make drinks and help out. The others will be more than happy to show you how they make everything, don't be afraid to ask. Do you have any questions?”

 

“Yeah. How much will I be making?” he asked.

 

Nami first told him that everyone starts at the same pay rate...then quoted him a price that was $5 an hour more than he was making at the sandwich shop before she left the booth.

 

Zoro couldn't stop grinning while he filled out paperwork.

 

Luffy watched the proceedings with a reflective expression. When Zoro put down his pen, the teen watched Nami pick up the folder and walk away before he smiled shyly.

 

“I forgot. You don't really know much about me, right? So you can ask me anything you want and I'll answer.”

 

Zoro gazed thoughtfully at the raven-haired teen.

 

“Okay. You know about my family, what about yours?” he asked.

 

Luffy looked up at the ceiling and then back at Zoro.

 

“I have two older brothers, and Gramps and Dad. Gramps is in the Marines, he's a general or something and is away a lot. Dad's away a lot too, I don't know what he does. Sabo's probably doing homework since his classes are done for the day and he's off work. Ace is at work, he's the explosives expert at the local police station. He's doing second shift this month. He hates it, he likes third. He says that's when all the good shit happens.” Luffy gushed, chuckling at his last statement.

 

“Lets see...oh, Sabo, Ace and I live in the apartment above the Sunny and I'm home-schooled. Sabo says it's because I'm too active for regular school, but Ace says it's because teachers don't like kids that won't sit still.”

 

Zoro blinked, absorbing the rush of information.

 

“Uh... isn't being too active for regular school and kids that won't sit still basically the same thing?” he asked.

 

Luffy stared at him for a minute, then burst out laughing.

 

“It is! I never saw it that way before!”

 

Zoro grinned while the teen continued laughing.

 

“Here is your hamburger, Zoro-san,” Robin said, appearing at Zoro's side. “Anything else that requires cooking will have to wait. Cook-san had to go to class,”

 

Once again he hadn't heard the black-haired woman coming. It was really starting to bother him. He felt glad that she was on their side...whatever that meant.

 

He got the feeling that she would have made a very dangerous opponent.

 

Watching as she placed the tray on the table and put the full plate in front of him, Zoro wasn't surprised to see a skinny arm snake its way to his plate to grab a fry. Chuckling to himself, he looked up at the teen who paused momentarily, the french fry halfway to his mouth. Luffy grinned and then shoved the entire fry inside.

 

 _'_ _Yup, I'm gone,_ _'_ Zoro admitted to himself, his heart pounding . _'_ _I'm head over heels_ _for him_ _._ _'_

 

Willing his heart to slow down, he picked up the hamburger and smiled at the raven-haired boy before taking a bite. He chewed three times, then swallowed before tilting his head at the teen.

 

“So. Luffy...” he began, watching when yet another fry was stolen.

 

“What's your cell phone number?” Luffy interrupted, chomping on the fry.

 

“Uh...phone number? I don't have a phone,” Zoro replied. “I got caught in the rain and never replaced it.”

 

“Hn...not good. How am I supposed to call you for our next date if you don't?” Luffy asked, blinking.

 

Zoro felt his face grow warm. To cover up his embarrassment, he took another bite of his sandwich.

 

“NAMI!” Luffy shouted. “You were right!”

 

“Shut _UP_ Luffy, I'm coming!” she shouted back, causing many of the regular customers to giggle at the exchange.

 

Zoro got the feeling that these two spent a lot of time shouting at each other for one reason or another.

 

“Here,” she said, putting a brand new phone on the table, then placing the bagged box next to his side. “It's fully charged and all of the Strawhats numbers are already programmed in, along with the Sunny's private number. You need to keep it with you at all times. We'll never know when _it_ is supposed to happen, and we'll need to get ahold of you when it does.”

 

Zoro simply stared up at Nami, speechless.

 

“Yeah Zoro. Now you can call or text me anything, day or night,” Luffy added, blushing slightly.

 

The green-haired man nodded.

 

“You'll be making payments on it since it's an expensive phone. I'll be taking the payments directly out of your paychecks until it's paid off. With interest, of course.

 

Zoro glowered before biting into his sandwich while Luffy stole another fry.

 

“Stop that!” Nami said, slapping the teen's hand. “It's his food, he paid for it!”

 

“But Naaaaammmiiiii, I'm huuunnnnggggrrrryyyyyy!” Luffy whined, rubbing the back of his hand and pouting.

 

“It's okay Nami-san I...” Zoro started.

 

“It's Nami,” she corrected. “No 'san'.”

 

Zoro frowned at the interruption.

 

“I don't mind if Luffy eats my fries. Like you said, I paid for them, so it gives me the right to give them to whoever I want,” he grumbled, pushing the plate over to Luffy.

 

“YAY!” the teen cried, falling upon the food like a starving man.

 

Nami rolled her eyes at the raven-haired boy's actions.

 

“It's not like you didn't just eat two full meals not even an hour ago, Luffy,” she said, a slight smile on her face as she watched the teen inhale the fries.

 

Zoro watched the exchange between the two carefully.

 

 _'_ _It's like they're_ _sibling_ _s,_ _'_ he thought. ' _She seems more like an older sister than an employee._ _'_ Zoro smiled at the thought.

 

“Luffy-bro, can ya come over here for a sec?” Franky, the blue-haired barista called out. He seemed to be trying to help calm a customer that Usopp was talking to. The curly-haired man's arms gestured wildly while Chopper stood and stared, horrified at the situation.

 

“I'll be back,” Luffy said to Zoro, wearing a stern expression as he stood and bobbed his head once at Nami, who looked annoyed but confident.

 

Putting his half-eaten hamburger down, Zoro turned to watch the proceedings.

 

“I SAID that I wanted to smoke while I drink my coffee and I'm damned well gonna!” shouted a linebacker-sized customer, impeccably dressed in an expensive suit. He swung an equally expensive-looking briefcase around while he shouted.

 

“But sir, smoking isn't allowed in this, nor any other public establishment in Grand Line City! It's the law!” Usopp explained, his arms still waving wildly.

 

“Look bro, we didn't make th' law, we only follow it,” Franky added. “If ya don' like it, ya can take it up wit' the owner. Here he comes.”

 

Luffy moved from behind a group of waiting customers and stood in front of the irate man, now standing alone in a space clear of people.

 

From where he was sitting, both Zoro and Nami had a perfect view.

 

“Can I help you sir?” the raven-haired teen asked, gazing up into the much taller man's face.

 

“Yes, _boy_ , you can go get your daddy so that I can tell him that I will smoke _anywhere_ and _anytime_ I damned well please!” he replied, bending down to glare into the black-eyed teen's face.

 

Luffy smiled back.

 

“That man must be at least six foot eight!” Nami exclaimed, wide-eyed.

 

Zoro stood up, ready to help but stopped in his tracks when Nami placed her hand on his arm.

 

“Just watch,” she said, smirking as he retook his seat..

 

The regular customers all seemed interested, but Zoro noticed that not one seemed worried.

 

“I'm the owner, sir. Can I help you?” the skinny teen repeated.

 

The irate customer stood up to his full height and threw back his shoulders.

 

“How can a little shit like you run this place?” he asked, scowling.

 

“My Strawhat crew help me out,” Luffy chirped, grinning.

 

“'Strawhat crew? What kinda name is that? _Y_ _ou're_ gonna need a team when I'm finished with you, a _surgical_ team!” the man threatened, dropping his briefcase and balling up a massive fist.

 

Luffy blinked and tilted his head.

 

“Why?” he asked innocently.

 

Zoro jumped up from his seat as Nami laid her hand once again on his arm.

 

“He's gonna get pummeled! That guy's like four times Luffy's size!” Zoro cried.

 

“No he won't,” Nami assured him as Zoro fell back into his seat. “Just keep watching.”

 

The angry customer threw a punch that would have knocked the scrawny teen into next week...if it had connected.

 

Leaning over backwards, Luffy evaded the strike, the breeze from the swing blowing his messy hair across his forehead.

 

“WHOA! You almost hit me!” Luffy shouted, fuming.

 

Growling, the man threw another punch...and another, both of which Luffy easily avoided by bending and ducking.

 

By now, the customers had cleared out a larger space around the pair and were either cheering for Luffy or booing the angry man.

 

Luffy turned his back on the man and waved at Zoro, grinning.

 

Zoro waved weakly back, his eyes going huge as the now thoroughly pissed off customer threw a sucker punch at the back of Luffy's head.

 

It seemed to Zoro as if everything happened in slow motion.

 

Luffy bent forward nearly double then twisted around as if boneless. He threw a powerful right-handed wallop over his left shoulder that struck the man hard in the jaw as Luffy's body followed through to end up facing the enraged man.

 

The man hit the floor like a ton of bricks, unconscious.

 

The other customers went wild, cheering and stomping their feet.

 

Zoro's jaw dropped.

 

“Usopp, be sure to take his picture and add him to the banned customers list,” Luffy said firmly. Making his way back to the booth, he smiled and blushed as customers patted him on the back or congratulated him.

 

Usopp stood up from behind the counter where he had ducked when the fight started. “I'm on it,” he said, reaching under the counter and bringing up a camera. Pointing it at the unconscious man's face, he took two pictures then disappeared into a back room, followed by Nami.

 

Franky went over to the man and easily picked him up under his arms while Chopper grabbed his briefcase and hurried over to hold open the door.

 

“I guess he didn't see the sign,” Luffy quipped, pointing towards the counter.

 

Zoro could just make out the words, which read, “We have the right to refuse service to you if you're an asshole.”

 

The green-haired man couldn't contain his laughter as Luffy rubbed the back of his head and smiled, embarrassed.


	3. Blasted Rendezvous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zoro begins his first day working at the Thousand Sunny and then things get interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I did not forget about this story! I could give you a long, winded explanation as to why it took me so long to update, but it would probably bore you. If you REALLY want to know the full story, its here in the Author's Notes. 
> 
> http://archiveofourown.org/works/3792262/chapters/21779723
> 
> That and I could NOT figure out how to end the last part of the chapter AT ALL until recently. 
> 
> ~~Getting lost in LuLaw heaven didn’t help either. I HAVE NO REGRETS!!!~~
> 
> No matter. I’ll do my best to try and post in a more timely fashion. I’ve already started the next chapter, if that’s any consolation. 
> 
> So if you are still reading Dream Vision, I truly appreciate your patience and dedication and I apologize for taking so long. Thank you for being so patient with me and with this chapter.
> 
> Fuckmerunning 
> 
> I can’t believer I started this chapter over a year and a half ago! (>_<);;;
> 
> In the meantime, here’s a little ditty I like to call
> 
> My Beta
> 
> *clears throat *
> 
> *sings*  
> Eiri's betaing is the best!  
> Better than all the rest!  
> Well, maybe not,  
> but your betaing is HOT! (^_^)
> 
> Gawd, I’m such a goof! (^///^) *slaps self*
> 
> Ryuichi

 

By Friday 2pm, Zoro had finished his last class of the day. Placing his laptop and book into his backpack, he decided to head straight to the Thousand Sunny in time to begin barista orientation and his first shift at 4PM.

 _This will give me plenty of time to relax before the shift begins,_ he thought.

 He was wrong.

He made it to the Sunny with only 13 minutes to spare.

Leaning against the red brick shopfront, the green-haired man ran his fingers through his hair in an attempt to look more presentable.

While trying to find where the Sunny had moved to, he had plenty of time to think back to his conversation with Kojiro.

It was the first time he had ever seen the man afraid – truly afraid – for his adopted son.

For the first time since meeting Luffy and the Strawhat crew, Zoro let himself believe that maybe there _might_ be some truth to the teen's belief that they were going to be the start of something earth-shaking.

 Or at the very least, a change of some kind.

Why and what the outcome would be, he had no idea.

But he would be at Luffy's side, for good or for bad.

No matter what.

Pulling open the Sunny's front door, he heard the sounds of people chatting, the smells of coffee, tea and food and an all-encompassing welcome.

He was already becoming addicted to this place.

“ZOROOO!” he heard a familiar voice shout, followed by a body slam as Luffy glomped him and wrapped himself around the larger man.

Zoro was already addicted to that voice. And the hugs.

“I'm glad to see you Luffy,” he replied, blushing slightly. His hand hovered as if to pat the raven-haired teen before he gave a mental shrug and gently laid it on top of Luffy's messy black hair.

“I'm glad to see you too,” Luffy said, smiling up at him.

Tan cheeks turning even more red, Zoro returned the smile.

“Nami says you're gonna start working here today,” Luffy piped up as he climbed off of the older man.

Zoro missed his warmth already.

“You're early,” Luffy added while leading the way back to what was rapidly becoming “their booth.”

“I came right after class,” Zoro heard himself say as he watched the slender body and thin legs walk ahead of him. His face now completely red, he couldn't look at Luffy when they sat down.

Luffy leaned forward on the table, arms crossed. “Nami said you get lost a lot,” he murmured, staring at the green-haired man.

While his blush made its way down his throat, Zoro gazed back at the teen. He dropped his eyes to the tabletop.

“I...uh...well...things move around a lot,” he replied, frowning.

“Oh,” Luffy said as he sat back and thought about what was just said.

“OH! Your phone has a GPS app on it!” he cried out. “You shouldn't get lost if you use it!”

Zoro sighed. “They never work right for me,” he admitted.

“Ah well. You managed to find your way here when you needed to, maybe it'll keep happening that way!” the teen insisted happily.

Zoro could only shrug.

Usopp wove his way through the tables and took a seat next to Luffy.

“Ready for your orientation, Zoro? Nami told me to come get you.”

“Uh, sure,” Zoro replied, standing. Bowing slightly at Luffy before he left the table, he followed the dark-skinned man to the employees' lounge.

The next few hours went by in a blur as the beautiful red-head explained to him the basics of his new job, then he was allowed to observe behind the counter as Brook and Usopp worked. The pair explained their jobs to him and he rapidly caught on. Before long, he was making an espresso for his first customer while Brook supervised. He placed it on the counter for Robin and watched as the older woman carried the drink over to the customer, a pretty college girl who sipped it and nodded.

It was a boost to the green-haired man's ego when the college girl turned and smiled at Robin, who in turn pointed to Zoro. It was apparent that Robin had explained that she was his first customer. The girl beamed and placed some money on the black-haired server's tray.

Zoro had earned his first tip.

“Normally, we split the tips at the end of the shift, but since this is your first one, it's all yours,” Usopp explained as Robin approached the counter.

“For you, Zoro-san,” she explained, showing him her tray.

It held a $10 tip...and a phone number.

Brook giggled while Usopp grinned.

“You'll probably get phone numbers and worse from the non-regular customers. Just put it in your pocket and smile at her,” Usopp explained.

Zoro did just that, along with the tip.

By the end of his first six hour shift, Zoro had received 12 phone numbers and his customers had added an extra $75 to the tip jar.

Nodding to Franky when the blue-haired barista came in to replace him, Zoro then made his way unerringly over to the booth where Luffy was sitting, the teen's eyes on a laptop screen. Looking up, he smiled as Zoro sat down.

“So...how was it?” he asked, eyes shining.

“It wasn't too bad, I like it,” Zoro replied honestly. “The customers are pretty cool and I made lots of tips. Brook and Usopp are fun to be around,” he added.

“I know, right?” Luffy chirped, grinning. Leaning forward he reached his hand across the table.

“I’m glad you decided to work here,” the teen said suddenly shy.

Zoro’s gray eyes took in the offered hand.He smiled slyly before he slowly reached out, his larger hand enveloping Luffy’s much smaller one. Luffy’s hand was warm as the slender yet deceptively strong fingers curled around his own.

Zoro’s mouth was dry when he slowly raised his eyes, inadvertently locking wide yet happy black eyes with his own surprised gray ones. He smiled warmly at the raven-haired teen, who mirrored his own expression.

Zoro felt as if he weighed nothing as they quietly held hands across the table.

“Well, isn’t this cozy?” said an unfamiliar voice.

Zoro pulled away his hand as if burned.

Raising his head, Luffy grinned.

“Sabo!” he cried out. “This is Zoro!”

“I know Luffy. Its not as if you haven’t spent the last few days telling Ace and me everything you know about him.”

Zoro looked up at the laughter-filled tone to see a good-looking wavy-haired blond man, around his age wearing a light blue button-down shirt over a white band t-shirt and dark blue skinny jeans. A full, heavy-looking backpack was slung over one shoulder.

“Hello, nice to meet you. I’m Sabo, one of Luffy’s brothers,” the blond said holding out a hand. Zoro firmly shook hands with the smiling blond and noted the firmness was returned.

“Roronoa Zoro.”

“You’re right Luffy, he _is_ hot! Lucky you!” Sabo said, chuckling.

At that moment, Zoro wished the ground would open up and swallow him.

“Scoot over Luffy. Let me see what you’ve done so far,” Sabo said, easily slinging the backpack off of his shoulder. He took a seat next to the teen, placing the backpack so that it effectively blocked the pair into their side of the booth.

Seemed like Sabo had no plans of leaving anytime soon.

Luffy turned the laptop towards Sabo, who perused what the teen had done so far.

“You’re doing it wrong. This problem and this one are both off by one number. This is where you need to use those formulas I showed you...”

Zoro watched as Sabo explained the math formula to Luffy, taking care to answer all the teen’s questions until he understood how the homework problems were to be completed.

Looking down into his cup, Zoro sipped at his coffee, which Robin made sure to keep full.

“ _You’re doing it wrong,” said a familiar voice._

‘ _Kuina,’_ his memory supplied.

_Seven year old Zoro frowned at the voice. “It looks okay to me,” he grumbled._

“ _Here. This is what you did wrong,” Kuina explained, pointing to the work on his scratch paper. “This goes over here, carry the six and put the answer there.”_

“ _I don’t get the “carry the six” part.” Zoro said, confused. “Teacher explained it, but I didn’t get what she meant.”_

“ _Let me show you what I mean...’_

“Zoro? You okay?” Zoro heard Luffy ask.

Zoro looked up from the coffee cup. Both Luffy and Sabo were looking back at him, worry etched on their faces.

“You okay?” Luffy repeated softly.

“I’m...fine. Just tired, I guess,” Zoro replied.

“I’m almost done here. Give me a few more minutes, okay?” Luffy said as Sabo nodded in agreement. The teen typed quickly on the laptop, saved his work and then closed the top as Sabo smiled.

“See? I knew you’d eventually get it. You’re a pretty smart kid...when you want to be,” the blond said proudly.

“”OI! I’m not a kid, I’m a man!” Luffy retorted, pouting.

Zoro thought he looked really cute at that moment.

Sabo grinned “Until you turn 18, you’re a kid in the eyes of the law.”

“I’ll be 18 in a few weeks, yannow!” the teen replied, crossing his arms in front of his chest and slumping down in his seat.

Zoro thought that now Luffy looked even cuter.

“You okay Zoro? Your face is all red,” Luffy asked as he sat up and leaned towards him.

“I think he’s finding you really cute, Luffy,” Sabo said, nodding knowingly.

“Oh,” Luffy replied simply as he sat back.

Zoro wished the ground would open up and swallow Sabo.

“So, whatdoyawannado now Zoro? My homework’s done. I made sure I finished it today so that we could have the entire evening free!” Luffy chirped.

“Is _that_ why you wanted to do it every day instead of waiting until the last minute like usual?” Sabo asked, smiling.

“YUP!” Luffy replied. “So we can have our second date!”

“Wait, when did you have your first one?” Sabo asked, eyeing Zoro.

Zoro wished the ground would swallow up both him AND Sabo.

“Its okay Sabo. When I first saw him at the sandwich shop, Zoro had never come here before, so we came here and I bought him a cup of coffee and food. It was Sanji’s hamburger and boy was it good….” Luffy’s eyes glazed over as he started to drool.

“And...he’s gone. Mention food and he zones out, unless he just finished eating. You’ve been warned,” Sabo explained, chuckling.

“Okay, that’s good to know,” Zoro said, taking mental notes.

“Luffy. Oi, Luffy! I thought you were on a date!” Sabo called out, chuckling as he waved a hand in front of Luffy’s eyes.

“Oh, right! Sorry, sorry!” Luffy replied, leaning forward. “Ne, Zoro, want me to get you some food? The kitchen’s open for a little bit longer.”

“Uh...yeah. Sure. I can eat,” Zoro answered, standing and reaching for his wallet.

“Never mind paying for it Zoro-san, employees eat free. What can I get you?” Robin asked, pulling a pen and pad out from her apron.

‘ _That’s_ it! _I’m going to have her teach me how she moves so silently!’_ Zoro decided, frowning slightly.

Robin smiled at the green-haired man as if she knew what he was thinking.

“Does Curly-brow know how to make Japanese food? I could go for some onigiri and maybe some miso soup,” he asked as the beautiful server wrote on her pad.

“I can ask him. I seem to recall that he took a course in Japanese cuisine. I could be wrong and it could be that he learned how to make fugu1. I’m not sure if he’s ever tried to make it for someone,” Robin said, smiling mischievously.

Sabo chuckled while Luffy snickered.

“No thanks. I like to remain unpoisoned, thank you,” Zoro replied.

“Oh, I’m quite sure that he doesn’t hate you...yet. Besides, he hates to waste food,” Robin deadpanned, her eyes sparkling. Closing her notepad, she quickly walked towards the service counter.

“Sanji doesn’t hate you, Zoro. He just thinks you’re annoying, that’s all,” Luffy innocently explained.

“Well, he _did_ also say that he wouldn’t mind shaving off your head-lawn with one of his cooking knives after you asked about his eyebrows. He’s pretty sensitive about them,” Sabo added, smirking as he put his chin in his hand and his elbow on the table. “I’d not talk about them too often if you want him to continue cooking for you...or if you want to keep your current hairstyle.”

“Point made,” Zoro grumbled.

“I’m glad you’re off work today Sabo, I really wanted you to meet Zoro!” the raven-haired teen chirped happily.

Sabo grinned mischievously.

“Actually, I traded shifts with someone so I could meet him,” he admitted.

“Oh,” Luffy replied, momentarily nonplussed. “...but isn’t he cool?”

Zoro sipped at his coffee as he waited for the answer.

“Well, he does seem to be an interesting man. I have to admit he’s the first person I’ve ever met with natural green hair,” Sabo replied.

Zoro peered at Sabo over his coffee cup and smirked.

Luffy turned to stare at his older brother. “Natural? How did you figure that out?” he asked.

“Easy. His eyebrows and eyelashes are also the same shade of green. Chances are, they’re hereditary, right Zoro?” the blond asked.

Zoro placed his coffee cup on the table when Luffy leaned forward over it to inspect his face. The green-haired man blushed lightly when their eyes briefly met.

“Yeah. It happens every now and then on my Mom’s side of the family, although its been many generations since the last time it happened. One of my many-times-great grandfathers had it about 150 or so years ago. He was a swordsman as well,” Zoro explained.

“OOOOH! How cool!” Luffy replied, eyes sparkling.

“How interesting,” Sabo admitted. “Is that why you’re into kendo?”

“Partially. I enjoy the discipline and the technique behind it as well,” Zoro stated.

Changing the subject, his eyes moved over to gaze at Luffy.

“So...about this ‘second date,’” he began.

“OH! I forgot! Well, its kind of a date, I guess. I was just thinking that you might want to come up to our apartment and watch a movie. I thought we could order pizza or something, but you already ordered onions and meatloaf, so I guess we can have that instead.”

“Onigiri and miso soup, Luffy. Its Japanese food,” Sabo explained.

“If Zoro thinks its good, then I’ll eat it!” Luffy chirped, folding his hands behind his head.

“Its a good thing I had Sanji make two orders then,” Robin said, placing two To Go bags and two extra-large lidded cups on the table.

Zoro picked up the bags and smiled at Robin. “Thank you,” he said, nodding his head towards her. She smiled in return before heading towards a waving hand at another table.

”Welp, I see that my friends are here, so I’m going to go,” Sabo said as he picked up his backpack and scooted out from the booth. “Very nice to meet you Zoro. And Luffy, remember what we talked about. I’m not kidding,” he warned, his expression serious before he turned towards a group of waving people, backpack slung over one shoulder.

Zoro raised an eyebrow and gazed at the black-haired teen. Luffy picked up the two cups, his face brilliant red.

“What was that about?” the green-haired man asked.

Luffy looked down at the cups he held in his hands and mumbled.

Zoro raised his eyebrow higher in response as he waited for an answer.

Luffy glanced up at Zoro, then back down at the cups in his hand.

“He said, no grown-up stuff until I’m legal, because you could go to jail if the wrong people find out,” he said just loud enough for the other man to hear.

Zoro wished the ground would swallow up Sabo, Luffy _and_ himself at that.

*~*~*~*~*

Carrying the two full bags of food, Zoro followed Luffy to a wooden door next to the Ladies’ room that he hadn’t really paid attention to before. He watched as Luffy put both cups in one hand and took out a set of keys from his jorts pocket. The teen unlocked the door and pushed it open.

“After you,” the teen said, gesturing for Zoro to go ahead of him.

Shifting the bags slightly, Zoro walked inside the red brick hallway. Directly across from him was a reinforced steel door with a small window set high in it. To his right was a well-worn rectangular wooden staircase spiraling both higher up into the building as well as down into what he assumed was a basement. Carefully leaning over, Zoro saw that the staircase led up to what looked like the roof and down into darkness.

“This way!” Luffy said, sweeping past the green-haired man and up the stairs. “Sabo’s gonna be busy with his uni friends for a while, and Ace is working a double so he’s not gonna be home until after 7 in the morning.” The raven-haired teen hurried up the stairs, cups in hand while Zoro followed at a slightly slower pace.

“Oh, watch out for the landing, it has a loose board in it!” Luffy warned, deliberately jumping over a board. “We’re gonna fix it one day, but things have been kinda busy lately.”

Looking out the window of the landing, Zoro realized that it was over the same alley that he had looked out from the Men’s room on their first date.

Except this time the thought of leaving the teen made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

“What’s wrong Zoro? You don’t look so good. Afraid of heights?” Luffy asked.

“No, just had a...strange thought,” Zoro replied, continuing his climb up the stairs.

“Oh. I have those too. Like what color is invisible?” Luffy asked absently. “No one’s ever been able to answer it.”

“I think that invisible _is_ a color. Like how an orange is orange. It describes the thing and the color3,” Zoro remarked.

“OOH!” Luffy cried, eyes sparkling. “I never thought of it like that! You’re SOOO smart!”

The older man couldn’t help but blush at the expression on Luffy’s face.

Luffy stopped at a landing in front of another reinforced wooden door with a peephole in it. Carefully balancing the two cups, he reached into his jorts pocket and pulled out his keys.

“I cleaned up some, but Sabo says I’m not too good at it so he helped,” Luffy admitted as he unlocked the door.

“You didn’t have to do that. I don’t care what your place looks like,” the green-haired man replied. “I just wanna kick back and watch a movie.”

‘ _With you,’_ he silently added as Luffy held open the door.

Zoro stepped into a sun-lit entrance-way with shoes and boots lined haphazardly against the right wall underneath the large window. Towards the back of the small room stood a tall wooden cabinet, its doors shut. Zoro figured that it held coats as he toed off his shoes. He turned around just in time to watch Luffy kick off his sandals against the shoe-wall, then turn around to stride over to another door. Unlocking that one as well, he once again held the door open.

Passing through, Zoro entered into a huge living room, tall bookshelves on his right side. Moving further into the room, he saw an enormous big screen TV to his left with gaming consoles neatly spread out on the polished wood floor in front of it. Halfway between the bookshelves and the TV sat a black L-shaped overstuffed couch, three tall lamps behind it to provide light. A coffee table sat on the floor in front of the couch, gaming magazines spread artfully on its wood surface.

“Here, Zoro, put the food on the coffee table,” Luffy said, moving aside the magazines to place the soup-filled cups on its surface.

Zoro put down the bags he had been carrying and looked around. “Nice place,” he said. “Its bigger than my Dad’s place.”

“Its been in the family since Gramps first joined the Marines. He bought the entire building when he was a few years older than me,” Luffy explained, rubbing the back of his head as he blushed.

“Its pretty cool. Love the TV, bet its great to play video games on,” Zoro said as he took a seat on the couch.

“Wanna play? We have all kinds of games!” the raven-haired teen offered.

“Maybe later. Right now I just wanna kick back and relax while we eat,” Zoro admitted.

“OH! Right!” Luffy piped up. He sat down next to Zoro, his elbow bumping lightly against the swordsman as he reached for a drawer. He opened it and pulled out 2 remotes.

“I figured that you’d like an action movie. Do you like the Marvel comic book movies? Ace downloaded the latest one for me a coupla days ago,”3 he asked, sitting back and clicking a button, turning on the TV.

“Didn’t you say that he was a cop?” Zoro asked, puzzled.

“Uh...he is. We were going to go see it at the theater, but things didn’t work out so we could see it opening weekend. He says a movie is most special then and he likes to see the people that show up in cosplay. He said that once it comes out on DVD, we’re going to buy a legit copy to make up for it.”

“Hn,” Zoro grunted as he reached for one of the bags. Opening it, he took out a cardboard box. Inside was a row of six shaped balls of rice with seaweed. Handing one to Luffy, he picked up one for himself and took a bite as the opening credits played.

“This doesn’t look like an onion,” Luffy mused.

“That’s because its not. Its onigiri. A riceball filled with different things. You won’t know with what until you bite into it,” the older man explained.

“Oh,” Luffy said, first inspecting then smelling the onigiri in his hand. He took a huge bite, chewed a few times, then swallowed. “Its good!” Wolfing more of the onigiri, he paused. “It tastes like fish. Its good though!”

“You might have a tuna one,” Zoro guessed. Taking another bite of his, he paused. “This one is umeboshi, pickled plums.” Humming pleasantly at the familiar flavor, the swordsman took another bite as the movie played.

As the action filled the screen, Luffy bounced between eating and exclaiming excitedly, his hands gesturing wildly between bites. Zoro watched the teen as well as the movie, delighted by Luffy’s antics.

Somehow towards the middle of the movie, Zoro found Luffy leaning against his shoulder.

 _Well, I am a bit tired,_ he thought to himself as he yawned and stretched out his arms, sweating a bit as he placed one around Luffy.

Luffy stiffened at the action.

 _Oh shit!_ His mind screamed, his heart dropping into his stomach.

Luffy sighed and leaned against Zoro’s shoulder as a bashful smile spread upon the teen’s face.

“That’s nice,” he murmured as he snuggled further into Zoro’s side.

Quietly sniffing at Luffy’s hair, the scent somehow reminded Zoro of the ocean. He felt himself relax at the raven-haired teen’s warmth.

Despite his long day, Zoro felt as if he could never sleep again.

By the time the end credits rolled, Luffy had somehow moved his arm behind Zoro as well.

Leaning forward, Luffy picked up the remote sitting next to him and switched off the DVD player.

Zoro already missed Luffy’s warmth on his side.

“Black Widow is so cool,” Luffy said absently. “She’s a lot like Robin.”

“Oh?” Zoro asked. “How?”

“She’s loyal to those she loves, no matter what,” Luffy explained.

“That’s good to know.”

“You’re like Hawkeye,” Luffy continued. “Robin says you’re a straight shooter. I guess that means you can use a bow and arrows, ne?” he added, turning his head to gaze up at Zoro.

“No, I can’t. I use my katana. I think she means...” Zoro began, just as the apartment door banged open.

“Anyone home?” a voice cried out.

“ACE!” Luffy replied, jumping up off the couch.

Luffy and Zoro both stared at the black-haired man as he leaned against the doorjamb.

“ACE! What happened?” Luffy asked, eyes wide as he rushed over.

“I got hurt at work. They made me leave, the wusses. I’m no wuss!”

The man...Ace grunted as Luffy took his free arm.

“A drug lab blew up and I got caught in the blast. The drug dealers inside the lab weren’t so lucky.”

Zoro took a good look at the oldest brother. Handsome freckled face aside, he looked as if he had been caught in an explosion. Scorched marks blackened both him and his uniform and as Zoro watched, Ace took off his body armor and threw it to the floor. It was badly burned and smoke could be seen still wafting up from the hole in the center. What parts of his uniform that hadn’t been protected by the body armor were badly shredded, barely hanging on in places.

“Shouldn’t you be at the emergency room?” Zoro asked, concerned. Ace looked up from the body armor to glare towards the unfamiliar voice.

“I needed to come home and get my insurance cards,” the older man deadpanned.

Luffy scooted underneath one arm to help Ace into the apartment. “Zoro’s right! You should be at the ER! Yannow that Sabo would have brought the cards if you had called, stupid Ace!” he yelled angrily.

“I’ll be fine Luffy, just got the wind knocked out of me. And I’m gonna be sore tomorrow, so they gave me the next three days off,” he added pouting at his younger brother.

“Luffy’s right. Maybe you should go get checked out,” Zoro added, frowning.

“And you are _who_ again? I think I know what’s best for me,” Ace countered while Luffy got under an arm and helped him over to the couch.

“Roronoa Zoro. If you need help getting to your car...” Zoro began.

“I’m fine! Luffy, quit fussing over me! I just need to sle...” Ace roared, his voice stopping in mid-word as he slumped over to one side.

Zoro’s jaw dropped.

Luffy picked up his brother’s feet and swiveled him fully onto the couch. “Its okay. He does that when he gets over-stressed. Sabo says its narcrops...narteps...he falls asleep at weird times.”

“Narcolepsy?” Zoro asked, watching as Luffy placed a couch pillow under the now snoring man’s head.

“Yeah, that’s it. He’s on medication for it, but sometimes it doesn’t work.” The teen stared at the sleeping man a bit longer then turned to Zoro.

“I...I don’t know what to do now,” Luffy stammered, his cheeks red. “I wasn’t planning on Ace coming home so early.”

Zoro’s eyes flickered from Luffy to Ace sawing sleep-logs on the couch and then back to Luffy. “What were you planning on doing after the movie?” Zoro asked.

“I thought we’d go back down to the Sunny. Its open 24 hours on Friday and Saturday nights,” Luffy replied, shrugging.

“Can your brother be left alone? He just got blown up and all,” Zoro asked.

“Naw, I don’t wanna just leave him. I wanna keep an eye on him...if that’s okay with you,” Luffy said thoughtfully.

“Then why not just stay here? That way we can keep an eye on him should he need something,” Zoro offered.

“Okay!” Luffy chirped, looking relieved as he glanced over at his brother. “He’s probably gonna be out for a while. The more he’s stressed, the longer he seems to sleep.” He picked up a well-worn blanket from the back of the couch and draped it over Ace, then faced Zoro.

“Sooooo...do you wanna play video games or something?”

“I’m not really a big gamer. I usually spend my free times either sparring at the dojo, working out or simply working,” the green-haired man admitted.

Luffy grinned. “Well...we DO have a sparring area,” he offered.

Zoro blinked. “You do?”

“Sure we do! Me and Ace and Sabo like to fight each other! I’ve never beat Ace, but Sabo says I’m still growing so I might someday!”

“I see,” Zoro replied, cracking his knuckles. “I could go for a good spar, but these are the only clothes I have with me. I’ll want a shower afterwards.”

“You can borrow some of Ace’s to spar in, I’m sure he won’t mind,” Luffy volunteered, grinning as he abruptly tilted his head to the right. His neck let out an audible crack before he tilted his head over to the left.

“Besides, Sabo and Ace have been busy lately and I haven’t had a good sparring session in a while! C’mon!”

Luffy began to lead Zoro past the couch, pausing to replace Ace’s hand back across his chest from where it had fallen onto the hardwood floor. The older raven let out a snort, then continued snoring, his mouth slightly open.

The teen walked past the couch and another bookshelf to a door, Zoro following. Trying to keep his eyes off of Luffy’s ass and failing, he nearly walked into a wall.

Luffy lead the way through another door and into a hallway lined with doors and painted a light sky-blue. He headed into a door diagonally across from where they were, leaving it open as he headed over to a tall bureau and opened a middle drawer.

“Ace is a bit taller, but I think these’ll work,” the teen muttered. Looking up, he grinned at Zoro. “Here!”

The green-haired man took the offered clothes.

“The bathroom’s two doors down,” Luffy indicated, nodding his head left.

Zoro walked out the door and turned right, counting two doors as he went. He ended up outside a door with the name “Sabo” etched in old-fashioned letters on a brass plate. Puzzled, he opened the door.

A neatly laid-out bedroom, full of books and steampunk-styled accents met his eyes. He glanced around at stacks of magazines, piled on the brightly-colored rug. Two windows were covered by gear-patterned blackout drapes.

“You went the wrong way Zoro,” Luffy said as he came up behind the swordsman.

“No I didn’t. I’m new to this place,” he replied.

“Hunh?” Luffy asked, then laughed. “You got lost!”

“I don’t get lost. Buildings and rooms move around and confuse me,” he grouched back.

“C’mon, the bathroom’s this way,” Luffy said, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

Grumbling to himself, Zoro followed as the teen walked past an open door. A brief glimpse inside showed it to be a laundry room. Walking past Ace’s room once more, he noticed a huge flaming ace of spades painted on the door in brilliant reds, oranges and yellows.

Luffy led then down the hallway past one plain door and stopped in front of another.

“Here you go. You can change in here. I’ll be next door in my room changing if you need anything,” Luffy explained.

Zoro opened the door with the words “Black Hole” painted on it and went inside. Looking around, he smiled at the dark blue shower curtains with spaceships and planets printed on it that hung over the old-fashioned claw foot bathtub. A robot stood on the back of the toilet, along with a rubber ducky holding a laser pistol and wearing a silver astronaut uniform and helmet.

The rug in front of the bathtub was round with a moon and tiny moon lander woven into it’s fluffy surface. Paintings of galaxies and what seemed to be alien planets adorned the walls. Lifting the dark blue toilet lid, the green-haired man noticed that it had gold and silver stars painted on it. They looked like they would glow in the dark.

Zoro quickly emptied his bladder and washed his hands before taking off his work shirt and pants. Standing in his boxers and sleeveless undershirt, he held up the drawstring sweats. He made a wry face when he saw that they were black with flames on the side that ran down towards the ankles. The matching sweatshirt had flames that ran down the arms towards the wrists as well as flames on the bottom of the shirt.

“Seems that Ace has a thing for fire,” he muttered to himself.

“Dressed yet?” Luffy called from the hallway.

“Give me a moment,” Zoro said as he finished dressing. The clothes were a bit large on him but still worked.

Opening the door, he saw Luffy grinning at him. The teen was dressed in a loose red t-shirt and blue sweats that hung on his skinny frame.

“The sparring area’s this way,” Luffy said, exiting through a door across the hallway. The raven-haired teen walked quickly past workout machines on his right and a free weight area on his left under multiple windows, now darkened by the night sky.

“These are aerobic machines,” he explained, pointing to the workout machines. “Ace also wanted regular free weights, so we made this area for lifting. Over there is resistance machines. Sabo wanted those. I wanted the sparring area. Gramps said as long as we don’t break through the floor or fix whatever we broke in the apartment, he didn’t care what we did.”

Zoro looked around, impressed.

“Sabo said that since I don’t go out much, he wanted me to have everything I needed here,” Luffy replied.

“You...don’t go out much?” Zoro asked. “Why not?”

“Ace says my dreams used to make me sick,” Luffy explained.

“Sick? How?”

“Idunno. Just...sick,” Luffy replied, shrugging.

“But are you allowed to go out or are they keeping you here?”

 _As a prisoner?_ Zoro wanted to add.

“Oh I go out all the time now! But when I was younger, I was pretty sick and on special medicine. I spent a lot of time at home and I didn’t even go downstairs unless someone carried me. But I’m all better now. Sabo always says that it’s best if nobody knows I have these dreams. I don’t know what he means by that. Everyone knows I have them. I don’t hide it.”

Zoro pondered that new revelation as he followed Luffy.

“Here we are!” Luffy crowed, startling Zoro from his thoughts.

Thick blue mats lay on the hardwood floor. Benches sat closer to the resistance machine-side of the huge area so that spectators could pull them over in order to watch matches. The windows closest to the mats were laced with chicken wire to prevent someone from falling through them. A chalkboard stood next to the lowest bench with the names Ace, Sabo and Luffy written on it. Ace and Sabo’s tallies were nearly even but Luffy’s held only half the amount of the other two.

Zoro’s gaze traveled around the area before he nodded. “This’ll do,” he said airly.

Actually, he was pretty damned impressed with the entire setup.

“Do you like it? Its really just mats on the floor...” the teen began.

“This entire setup is better than some gyms I’ve gone to,” Zoro admitted, blushing slightly.

“Really?” Luffy asked before he stepped onto the mat. He bowed, then walked diagonally across from Zoro and waited.

Zoro bowed, then stepped onto the mat. “Yeah,” he said, walking to the center.

“That’s kinda cool,” Luffy said, striking a strange martial arts pose.

Zoro frowned at the pose, wondering if the teen knew what he was doing.

“I’ll try to go easy on you,” Zoro warned the raven-haired teen before taking a basic left foot forward renoji-dachi4 stance, fists held up in front of him.

“Don’t. I can take it,” Luffy replied.

And the battle was on, Luffy occasionally stopping to listen for Ace’s snores.

Afterwards, Luffy held out his hand to Zoro, who picked himself off the mat for what had to have been at least the twentieth time he hit it.

“Okay...I get it. Where...do you...hide...your muscles?” he panted, dusting off Ace’s borrowed sweatpants yet again.

“Sabo says I’m wiry. I’m not sure what that means,” Luffy said barely winded.

Zoro, on the other hand, was a sweaty, panting mess. He bent forward, his hands on his knees while he tried to get his breath back after Luffy knocked the wind out of him. Again.

“I...it...it means...you’re skinny but...strong.

Pushing himself upright, he bowed to Luffy, who returned the bow before stepping off the mat. Picking up a towel from the top of the mini fridge that stood against the wall, he tossed it to Zoro before grabbing one for himself and swiping it across his face.

Zoro vigorously wiped his face with the towel before running it through his hair.

“Anytime you want to spar again, let me know. I’d like it if you would come down to the dojo every now and then,” the swordsman offered.

“Okay! I’d like that!” Luffy said before opening the mini fridge. Taking out a bottle of water, he gulped down half. Burping out loud, he grinned as he tossed a second bottle towards the green-haired man.

Wiping off his head once more, Zoro caught the tossed bottle. Cracking it open, he drained it. Draping the towel around his neck, he wiped off his face.

“Shower time!” Luffy said, taking Zoro’s hand.

Zoro felt his cock twitch at the thought of showering with the younger man.

“You’re the guest, so you get to go first!” Luffy said, wiping off his face.

For a brief moment, Zoro’s expression fell before he schooled it back into a neutral one.

Lowering the towel, Luffy chuckled. “Here, I’d better lead you. Don’t need you to get lost!”

“I don’t get lost, I told you, rooms and buildings move!” Zoro huffed, wiping off his face once more.

“Sure they do!” Luffy teased, a huge grin threatening to split his face in half.

Zoro thought he’d happily get lost if it would make the raven-haired teen smile like that again. Or better yet, take his hand.

Wiping off his face and arms, Luffy lead the older man to the bathroom. Once they were both inside, he opened the door behind the bathroom door and took out two brilliant blue towels, a matching washcloth and a sample-size bottle of scented body wash.

“We keep these around so that when friends come up to spar, they don’t have to worry about using up our body wash,” the teen explained. “A friend of ours orders them from some website, I don’t know which one.”

Reading the bottle, Zoro frowned at it. “Peach?” he queried. “I don’t wanna smell like a girl.”

Luffy blinked before rummaging in the closet again. “Well, I see pomegranate and cherry blossom, apple spice, freesia, roses, clean linen and….” Suddenly the younger man burst out laughing.  
  
“What?” Zoro huffed.  
  
“Fresh cut lawn! I don’t think you’d want to smell like grass, do ya?” Luffy asked, turning to the green-haired man, eyes sparkling.

“ _No_ ,” replied Zoro, frowning. “Lemme have clean linen then.”

Chuckling, Luffy handed him the bottle, then left the bathroom.

Zoro showered quickly and dried himself off. He wrapped a towel around himself, then looked around for his clothes. Spying them in a pile on the bathroom floor, he wrinkled his nose at the thought of putting dirty clothes on his clean body.

He dressed, then hung up the towels over a nearby towel rack before exiting the bathroom.

“I’m finished!” he cried out.

“Okay!” Luffy shouted. “Coming!”

Zoro headed towards the sound of the teen’s voice. He found himself outside of a door with a straw-hatted jolly roger painted on it.

“I’m right here, so be careful when you open the door,” Zoro said loudly.

“Okay!”

Not knowing what else to do, Zoro moved over to the wall opposite Luffy’s door, slid down against it and sat on the floor to wait.

Still wearing his sweats when he opened the door, Luffy tilted his head and stared down at the green-haired man.  
  
“Why are you sitting there?” he asked.

“Your brother’s sleeping on the couch, and I didn’t know where else to wait for you,” the older man said, frowning slightly.

“Oh. Its okay. You can wait in my room if you want,” Luffy said flippantly, opening the door wider. “I have a desk and a chair. I’ll get dressed in the bathroom.”

As Luffy moved to step past Zoro, they both heard the sound of someone shouting.

“ _Sabo!_ ” Luffy yelled back, hurrying towards the sound.

Zoro got up off the floor and slowly followed as the shouting increased.  
  
“What the _fuck_ is wrong with you, Portgas D. Ace! Why aren’t you at a hospital? You got _blown the fuck up_!” the voice cried out.  
  
“I don’t _need_ no fucking hospital, Sabo, I just need some _sleep!_ Which I was doing until you woke me with your _big ass mouth!_ ” came the reply.

Luffy burst into the living room, followed by Zoro.  
  
“See? I told you he’d yell at you for not going to the ER! Stupid Ace!” Luffy yelled.

The older raven-haired man was sitting up on the couch, the blanket still wrapped haphazardly around his shoulders as he glared at the blond. Returning the glare, Sabo frowned at Ace, his fists balled at his side.

Zoro watched the confrontation, arms crossed as he took in the three brothers.

Taking in a deep breath, Sabo visibly relaxed.

“Look Ace. You need to be checked out to make sure you don’t have any broken bones or other injuries. I’d hate to find out that you have something wrong the hard way.”

Ace pouted and looked away. “Fine,” he said, capitulating. “But I’m stiff now and sore as fuck. I’ll need some help getting down the stairs.”

“That’s fine, we’ll help you!” Luffy piped up. “We have three guys here, we can carry you down!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Luffy. If one of us missteps, all of us could fall,” Sabo replied. “Its best if we just help him down.”

Sabo moved to get on one side of Ace and Luffy on the other.

Feeling lost, Zoro cleared his throat. All three brothers turned to look at the green-haired man.

A slight blush on his face, Zoro asked “What do you need me to do?”

Luffy reached into his pocket and tossed Zoro his keys. “Lock up for us.”

Zoro nodded as Sabo and Luffy helped pick Ace up from the couch.

Waiting until everyone was out of the apartment, Zoro tried three keys before finding the correct one to lock the apartment door. Following behind, he almost chuckled as the trio automatically stepped over the broken landing board.

“What happens when you step on that board?” Zoro asked, stepping over the board as well.

“It hits you in the face. Ace was going to fix it, but he keeps forgetting and we keep forgetting to remind him,” Sabo replied.  
  
“That’s good to know,” Zoro said thoughtfully.

“Its one of the reasons we don’t let just anyone come back here. That and we don’t want strange people thinking they can come visit any time they want. All of our friends know to step over it,” Luffy explained as they continued down the stairs.  
  
“Often someone yelling in pain is the only notification we get that the wrong person is back here,” Sabo said chuckling, as Ace and Luffy snickered.

“Its a great deterrent!” Ace gushed.

“Maybe you should just leave it,” Zoro suggested.  
  
“That’s kind of why I’ve never fixed it,” Ace admitted sheepishly, grunting as he moved wrong.

“Stupid Ace, getting blown up and then not going to the ER,” Luffy reiterated, fussing at the older man’s pain-filled sound.

“Its okay bro, we’ll get you looked at ASAP,” Sabo assured. “You’re a cop, they’ll see you fast, especially after taking one look at you.”

“I keep telling you two I’m _fine!_ ” Ace objected.

“Yeah, the blown-up man in a tattered uniform look is really trendy nowadays,” Sabo huffed sarcastically, causing Ace to blush and Luffy to frown slightly.

“Mind getting the door for us?” Luffy asked Zoro, eyes huge.

“Sure thing,” Zoro replied. He sorted through the keys once more.  
  
“Its...the one with the monkey head on it,” Luffy explained in a low voice, his cheeks colored pink.  
  
“Its cute!” voiced Sabo, smiling.

  
“Its funny!” Ace said, chuckling.

“Its embarrassing!” Luffy said, his blush deepening.

Zoro got the correct key and unlocked the door, opening it wide for the brothers. He took extra care to make sure it was locked behind him.

“Shouldn’t we tell someone we’re leaving?” Zoro asked while they walked down the ally to the parking lot.  
  
“Robin’s there with Nami. They’ll make sure that things are handled,” Luffy said confidently.

“I’ll make sure to call them from the ER,” Sabo added.

Following behind the trio, Zoro wasn’t sure if he should go to the ER or just head home.

“Coming with us Zoro?” Sabo asked, almost as if reading his thoughts. “I’ll make sure you get home okay.”

“Yeah, sure. I have no other plans anyway,” Zoro said, shrugging.

_Besides, what if Luffy needs me?_

Lost in thought, Zoro followed the brothers to a beat-up, dark blue car.

“Heads up, Zoro-kun,” Sabo said, tossing him a set of car keys.

Easily catching them, he unlocked the door and opened it.

“Duck your head, Ace,” Sabo instructed the freckled man.

“Yeah, yeah,” the older raven-haired man grumbled, wincing as he climbed into the vehicle.

The brothers made sure that Ace was in and buckled before they got on either side of him in the front seat, leaving the back seat open for Zoro.

 _Back seat. Alone._ the swordsman thought, moping slightly as he got in behind the driver’s.

“OH!” Luffy said as he climbed over the bench seat, in his haste nearly kicking Ace in the head.

“OI! Watch it moron!” Sabo yelled. “You almost got Ace!”

“Sorry, sorry! I wanted to sit back here with Zoro!” Luffy explained. Settling into the seat behind Ace, he turned to grin at Zoro.

Once again, the skinny teen seemed to almost stretch as he placed both arms around the older man in front of him.

“Okay, we’re ready! Luffy declared. “Lets go!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> 1\. fugu – (from wikipedia) Fugu is the Japanese word for puffer fish and the dish prepared from it…. Fugu can be lethally poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin: therefore, it must be carefully prepared to remove toxic part and to avoid contaminating the meat.  
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fugu
> 
> 2\. When I was a kid, I also asked “what color is invisible?” That was the answer I got almost word for word. (^_^) 
> 
> 3\. I do NOT condone pirating movies. But both Ace and Luffy are pirates in canon so….
> 
> 4\. This video is a bit overdramatic, (lol) but its the stance that Zoro first took when he sparred with Luffy. The only difference is his hands, which were balled into fists.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJHFyO1es4U
> 
> Ugh, again I’m sorry that I write so slow! I had SO much trouble trying to figure some stuff out that it threw me into a bad block with this story. I promise the next chapter ~~hopefully shouldn’t~~ won’t take almost TWO YEARS to get out! OTL


End file.
